Wednesday, January 21, 2009

There's a great editorial over at Politico: Seven reasons for healthy skepticism. It goes over many of the reasons that have been espoused here and elsewhere in the blogosphere, but never this close to the MSM. Here's one of the reasons:

4. Words, words, words

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, though starkly different men, both viewed the presidency as pre-eminently a decision-making job. Clinton often waved away speech drafts bloated with lofty language by saying: “Words, words, words.”

Obama seems to have a different view of the presidency. He thinks that the right decisions can be reached by putting reasonable and enlightened people together and reaching a consensus. He believes his job as president is to educate and inspire, largely matters of style.

He knows he is good with words. He knows he has great style. So that’s why he projects exceptional confidence in his ability to do the job.

We don’t know yet how justified Obama is in his self-confidence — or how naive.

But he is almost certain to face many tests, probably imminently, in which the test will be Obama’s ability to act quickly and shrewdly — and not merely describe his actions smoothly or impress people with nuance. And an unlike a governor — who must decide what’s in a budget and what gets cut, or whether a person to be executed at midnight should be spared — Obama has not made many decisions for which the consequences affect more than himself.

This was one of the big problems that many had with Obama before the election, and may well turn out to be his ultimate failing.

We shall see, and I hope that what he does is good for the country, but I fear that what he has proposed will take the country down the wrong path. And once we get too far down that path, we may never be able to turn back.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Apparently, easily distracted democrats and women in Chicago on election night aren't the only people that believe that Obama will make everything better. In Kenya, the celebrations will run all day. People who have nothing to eat or drink will be wearing Obama t-shirts. Mothers are telling their starving children that Obama will bring them food.

"I feel so great because he's one of us, he's like a brother to us," said Nick Otieno, 27, proudly displaying his Barack Obama t-shirt as he stood above a pile of dusty trash.

One of nearly a million Kenyans who live in Nairobi's sprawling Kibera slum, Otieno has no running water or electricity, but he owns two Obama shirts. He knows the date Obama will enter office, and already has his plans in order. "We shall be celebrating the whole day and the whole night because that day we shall be sure that [Obama] is now the president," he said.

They have no food, no running water, but they have Obama t-shirts. Of course, they consider him to be Kenyan.

Residents say they are proud of the first black man ever elected president of the United States, and many stop to speak about the man they consider a native son. "I am happy, I am looking forward to a better kind of world through Obama's presidency," said a woman, Nthenya, who carried her infant child on her back.

"We expect much from him as far as Kenyan life is concerned -- even us, the people who are staying in the slums here in Kibera," said Otieno.

Not all Kenyans believe it is Obama's job to fix all of Kenya's ills:

But others say Kenyans have to rise out of their own rubble. "I don't believe in handouts," said Michael Omolo Ombok, a 36-year-old who runs a car service in Nairobi. Unlike many of his fellow Kenyans, Ombok says he is not looking to the next president for help. "I don't believe Obama has a responsibility to make my life better. ... There's no manna that will fall from heaven now that Obama is president."

Members of Kenya's middle class say the value of Obama's presidency lies elsewhere. "I don't believe that we should depend on Obama 100 percent because he's the president of the United States of America," said Ombok. "What we should do is just take it as a way of being optimistic, working more and believing that if Obama can do it -- everybody can do it."

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Years ago, I spent six years in the Navy defending the rights of people who protested against what I did for a living. The people who use burning in effigy as a political tool. The people who want to take away all of the legally purchased guns because too many criminals have illegal guns. The people who think it's ok to kill babies if they are inconvenient. These same people tell me I'm a bad person if I don't believe all these things are good. This has always been a bit of irony I've enjoyed.

But this. This pisses me off something fierce.

The American flag is burned around the world by the same people who would emigrate here at the drop of a hat. That's ok. People with misguided opinions burn it here while not understanding that in almost any other country they would be arrested. That's ok. That shows the power and prestige that the flag carries with it.

My ship flew it proudly into ports all over the world. We saluted it daily and treated it with respect. Later, when I was leading a Boy Scout troop, I taught these young men the proper respect and handling of the flag. We held a flag retirement ceremony once a year. The troop would collect old and worn out flags from local schools, businesses and private citizens. We would invite local and state politicians and the news media out so we could show them how it really should be done.

The American flag is the preeminent symbol of America.

But this flag. This flag shows the disrespect these people have for our country. Because now, in this time, these people say they are proud to be here. Not because they live in one of the few places in the world that they could do this and not be arrested, but because Obama will now be president.

This flag shows the misunderstanding, contempt, disrespect and hatred they have for all this country really is.

And if necessary, I will fight to my last breath to protect their right to wave this...thing.

The Susan B Anthony List has a story detailing the fact that a number of abortion groups have put together a 50 page proposal requesting more federal funding to push the abortion on demand agenda in the US and internationally through the UN and Peace Corps.

The proposal includes:

* $1 BILLION dollars in taxpayer funding for International Abortion Groups* $700 million in taxpayer funding for “Title X” Health Clinics (aka your local Planned Parenthood affiliate)* $65 million for the UNFPA, an international aid organization connected to coercive abortion as part of China’s coercive one-child policy* Repeal the Hyde Amendment – Vastly expanding federal taxpayer funding for abortions* Include Abortion coverage in any taxpayer-subsidized national health care program* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions on military bases* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions through the Peace Corps program* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions for federal prisoners

The introduction to this proposal reads as follows:

The next President will have the opportunity to advance a reproductive health agenda that will make a profound difference in the lives and health of women, men, and families in the United States and around the world. Greater investments in reproductive health care will improve women’s health, reduce the incidence of disease, and promote healthy childbearing. Moreover, ensuring access to reproductive health services is essential to women’s full and equal participation in society.

For too long, our nation’s reproductive health policies have failed to address adequately the health care needs of women and their families. Skyrocketing costs and ideologically- driven government restrictions have put reproductive health services out of reach for millions of women. Here at home, this failure has led to persistent health disparities, including those based on income, race, ethnicity, gender, primary language, sexual orientation, immigration status, and disability, that are unacceptable in a country with the wealth and resources of the United States. The impact abroad has had similarly deleterious effects, with a growing unmet need for contraception, a rise in maternal mortality, and the increasing spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly among women.

These are I don't want this to turn in to an abortion debate, but I have strong feelings about taxpayers funding voluntary abortions for the general populace, and stronger feelings about funding UN abortion programs. If these programs were simply designed to help prevent disease, provide counseling and education services, I would have no objection. The problem exists when the government requires that I pay for abortions.

If this gets passed, then we need to submit a bill to require taxpayer funding for firearms and marksmanship education for whomever wants it.

Regardless of your opinion about abortion, requiring taxpayer funding is a problem. Go to http://www.stoptheabortionbailout.org/ where they have canned letters and e-mails you can send to your conngresscritters.

Is Barack proud of you?

On Sheepdogs

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.

From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

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